


This Promise of Paradise

by Ray_Writes



Category: Arrow - Fandom, DCU
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Death Fix, Fix-It, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Post-Episode: s04e18 Eleven-Fifty-Nine, of sorts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-15
Updated: 2019-05-15
Packaged: 2020-03-06 01:51:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18841204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ray_Writes/pseuds/Ray_Writes
Summary: Laurel Lance dies in Man's World...and wakes up somewhere else.





	This Promise of Paradise

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! This is just sort of a little plot bunny that's been gnawing on me the last few weeks. I'm aware there was some reference/plot point about Themyscira in Legends of Tomorrow, though to be honest I haven't kept up with that show past the first few episodes of season 1, so that's not going to be referenced here. Hopefully that's not a deal breaker.   
> I also don't really have one particular set of actresses in mind for Diana or Hippolyta. If you want to picture Gal Gadot and Connie Nielsen, that works for me. If you want to fancast your own versions, I'm happy for people to do that, too. I tried to keep the descriptors simple enough that that was possible.  
> At any rate, thanks to colorofmymind for beta-ing, and please enjoy and let me know what you think (I have possible ideas for a follow-up, but I'd love to hear from all of you first)!

The first thing that registered was the sound of waves washing up on a shore. A light sea breeze played with loose wisps of her hair and tickled her nose. She sat up, blinking in the warm sunlight, and stretched her arms. It was then that she noticed the cream-colored tunic draped over her body.

“Huh?”

Hooves hitting the sand caught her attention, and Laurel looked over her shoulder. A woman slowed the horse she rode to a trot as she approached. She was in a tunic as well and had long, dark hair. She also looked like the strongest person Laurel had ever seen. With ease, she dismounted from the horse and walked forward. Her smile was warm, but sad.

“Welcome, sister. Your hard journey is at an end.”

When she extended a hand, Laurel took it, allowing herself to be pulled up to her feet. “I don’t understand. Where are we? And how did I get here?”

“This is Themyscira, an island paradise. I am Diana, daughter of Hippolyta. And what is your name, sister?”

“Dinah Laurel Lance, but I’m called Laurel,” she answered. There was something calming about Diana’s presence, something that made her feel she could trust her. That she was safe. “I don’t remember coming to an island. I was in a hospital, and I think…”

“It’s alright,” Diana said. “You don’t have to force the memories. It’s always the same.”

“What is?”

Diana took her hand again. “Come, I will show you your new home.”

Laurel let herself be pulled up a path, glancing back once at the water before they turned a bend and it disappeared out of sight. Diana kept hold of her hand and guided the horse along at a slow walk on her other side. Everything was quiet and calm.

“Is this...some kind of afterlife?” She found herself asking.

“Not exactly. You are still part of the Earth. But we remain separate from Man’s World,” Diana answered.

“Man’s World?” Laurel’s face scrunched up slightly at that.

“Yes.” Diana’s lips curved in a wry smile. “Beyond Themyscira, the world is harsh and cruel. So many suffer, but the goddesses have been kind. They guide the souls of their daughters here, to join the Amazons.”

Laurel tried to make sense of everything she was being told. She was but wasn’t dead, monotheism was out, and this was an island of all women.

The trees along the path thinned, and they came upon a main stretch populated with various women coming and going. They were all dressed in the same sort of clothes she and Diana wore, some with piercings or jewelry or adornments in their hair in gold and silver. Every age and race and ethnicity was represented.

One woman who Laurel would have said was of East Asian descent — if that was even a concept here — noticed their approach and came to take control of the horse.

“Thank you, Shado,” Diana said.

“Of course.” Shado’s smile was kind, and she nodded to Laurel in greeting. “I hope you find the peace you have been looking for with us.”

“Thank you.” Laurel watched the woman leave, then turned back to her guide. “So, um, what exactly do people...do here?”

“They lead happy, fulfilled lives. Some women pursue the arts, others knowledge. Many of us train as warriors to defend our home in the event of an attack from the outside world. There will be plenty of time to explore,” Diana told her as Laurel’s pace had naturally slowed to take everything around them in. “But come, it is customary for new arrivals to meet my mother.”

“Is she in charge of the island?”

“She is Queen of the Amazons.”

“Oh.”

“There’s no need to be nervous,” Diana said with a smile. “My mother is always glad to receive new sisters, especially warriors with so fierce a heart.”

Laurel looked down at the compliment and let herself be led even further into what she supposed could be called a city. It didn’t feel like one, with the hustle and bustle and overcrowding. The air was clear, and the murmur or laughter of other women remained calm and in the background.

They reached a building with rounded columns guarded by two women with spears. They both ducked their heads in deference to Diana who nodded to each. Then they went inside.

Diana’s mother appeared to be entertaining. There were a number of women standing or lounging about on plush chaises. One of the group Laurel recognized immediately, and she stopped short.

“Mrs. Queen?” It was her, it really was. Blonde and elegant, the same as she had been in life.

Oliver and Thea’s mother did not look around or even appear to notice someone had called her name.

“Mrs. Queen,” Laurel tried again, but when she stepped forward, Diana took a gentle hold of her arm.

“I’m sorry, but whoever you believe to know will not respond to such a name.”

“What do you mean?” Would the Queen matriarch listen and react if she called her Moira?

“Those who arrive here learn to leave their hardships from Man’s World in the past, as you will one day.”

The last part of the sentence was something Laurel would worry about later, but the thing she couldn’t let go of was, “Being Ollie and Thea’s mom wasn’t a hardship to her. She loved her children.”

“And she gave them everything,” Diana stated plainly. “It was time for her to let go and reach her own peace.”

Laurel watched Moira laugh — a full one, not one of her polite chuckles at society functions — at something a woman with deep red hair had just said. They each accepted another glass of red wine Rebecca Merlyn poured out from a decanter, clinking them with a fourth woman with dark skin and closely cropped hair. They all looked so carefree and inviting...

She snapped out of it when a regal woman with long, blonde hair and a crown looked up at both of them. Laurel noticed her guide straighten up just the slightest bit more.

“Diana, come forward with our new sister.”

Diana walked into the middle of the room and Laurel followed.

“Mother, this is Laurel. She has been brought to us after suffering many injustices in Man’s World.”

“Um, hi.” Laurel ducked her head slightly, not sure if she was supposed to bow and not sure if she truly wanted to.

Hippolyta smiled. “Laurel. A worthy name.” She rose and came to them, placing her hands on Laurel’s shoulders. “Welcome to paradise, young sister. Your troubles are over.”

Laurel felt herself smile. After all, she was dead, wasn’t she? There wasn’t much she could do from here, even if her troubles hadn’t just been her own. Her father, her team, her city…

On the other side of the island, the waves crashed against the rocks of Themyscira. They drowned out everything else.


End file.
